Oberlin College and Conservatory

Communist Revolutions Then and Now

Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Allen Memorial Art Building, Classroom 1
87 North Main Street, Oberlin, OH 44074

Communist Revolutions Then and Now: Mid-Century Takeovers and the Arts of Cultural Memory in Bulgaria, Cuba, and China

What role do the arts play in standardizing or challenging national myths during times of revolution, and how do they help us to remember and understand those revolts decades later?

At the moment of their respective anniversaries, this panel commemorates mid-20th-century communist revolutions in three countries by examining the ways in which music, theater, and film have served to construct such cultural memories. Seventy years ago, the Bulgarian parliament elected establish their country as a socialist republic, sending their young tsar into exile. 60 years ago, Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, and Che Guevara set sail on the Granma to start the revolution in Cuba. Fifty years ago, the Cultural Revolution started in China. Through lectures and discussion, the panel will consider how the arts and the memories they articulate have transformed from the early-socialist to late-/postsocialist periods in these countries.

Topics:

- Bulgarian traditional music festivals and the fascination of musical tourists (Ian MacMillen, director of the Oberlin Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies)

- Cuban folk singers and the wave of revolutionary protest songs (Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón, visiting assistant professor in Hispanic studies at Oberlin College)

- China's Cultural Revolution and the "model opera" on stage and in film (Lauren Parker, PhD candidate in comparative literature at Stanford University)

Event Type

Arts, Lectures/Symposia/Workshops

Departments

Academic, East Asian Studies, Hispanic Studies, Latin American Studies

Contact Person

Ian MacMillen

Contact Phone Number

(440) 775-5292

Contact E-mail Address

imacmill@oberlin.edu

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